The Lady In Red
by GlazedAndConfused
Summary: Just a songfic to 'Lady In Red' by Chris De Burgh.


**: The Lady In Red :**

by

_- GlazedAndConfused -_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

Nope. Still don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion. Oh well.

* * *

"..." - denotes speech.  
"(...)" - denotes whispering.  
_Italics_ denote thoughts, emphasis and Japanese dialogue.  
_Underlined Italics_ denote song lyrics.

* * *

The annual school dance. For many, it is often a night of romance as they receive the chance to dance with their loved ones under the warm glow of the lights on the dancefloor. Or it can be a night of loneliness, where those who aren't so lucky are resigned to spending the whole time sitting alone, away from where all the action is taking place. One of these few unlucky people was Shinji Ikari. The pilot of Unit-02 was not particularly surprised that there was a chance that he would not exactly have somebody to dance with that night; after all, Asuka made it perfectly clear that she didn't want him ruining her reputation by them turning up together. He remembered the conversation that took place between them the previous day very well...

**

* * *

Previous evening...**

_Shinji was laid on his bed, listening to his S-DAT cassette player, staring out of his bedside window and into the night sky. Although his face had an expression of calmness and serenity, his mind was - in fact - in disarray._

_'How can I ask Asuka about the dance tomorrow night?' He mused, closing his eyes. 'Not that I'm expecting her to accept my invitation, of course. She'll probably just chew me out as she always does.' His eyes opened again. 'But then again, I won't know if I don't ask.'_

_He swung his legs so they dangled over the edge of the bed and placed his feet on the floor. 'Well, here's goes nothing...'_

_The Third Child then opened his bedroom door and walked out, slowly closing the door behind him. Walking into the living room, he saw Asuka lying on her stomach in front of the TV, watching the programme that was being shown almost as if she was drawn into the action herself. Drawing her attention away while she was already quiet definitely did not sound like a very appealing task, but if he didn't ask her now he'd never muster up the courage to do so at a later time. He slowly approached her, seemingly nervous._

_'Come on, Shinji...' he willed himself. 'If you don't ask her now, you'll never get the chance to again. At least not until next year or so.'_

_He swallowed with an almost audible gulp, then took a deep breath._

_"Er... A-Asuka...?" He stammered, nervously._

_"What do you want now?" The German girl replied, not in the friendliest of voices._

_"Er... well, I was w-wondering..."_

_The redhead sighed in annoyance. "Come on, _baka_-Shinji! Spit it out already!"_

_"I-I wanted to a-ask you if you wanted to c-come to... the schol d-dance tomorrow night... w-with me?"_

_'There, you did it.' He thought. 'What's the worst she could say?'_

_The German girl sat up and spun around, giving Shinji a glare that rocked him to the core. Jumping to her feet, she stomped over to him and moved in until their noses were literally touching. "And just what makes you think I would want to come to the dance with a pathetic, perverted weakling like you!" She sneered disdainfully, taking a morbid delight in his fright. "You think that just because your sync ratio is higher than mine, it means that you're given the goddamn right to try and ask me, the great Asuka Langley Sohryu, a stupid question like that. Besides, I already got a date for the dance," she continued, "and he's more manly than you can ever dream to be!." Her face contorted into an antagonistic scowl, while she smiled triumphantly inside. "Now, get out of my sight, _dummkopf

_Shinji did exactly that. He bowed his head dejectedly and slowly turned on his heel, slowly trudging back to his room. Asuka turned back to the TV, shaking her head in disbelief. "Hmph! The nerve of that _baka_..." she muttered to nobody in particular, the triumphant grin inside her beginning to tug on the corners of her mouth, "expecting me to be his date for the dance... like hell I would go with a pathetic wimp like him! Just living with him is bad enough for my reputation as it is!"_

_The Third Child flinched upon hearing that last sentence as if he had been struck by a sledgehammer, resigning himself to just being one of the very few loners in the gym the next night watching the action. Still, at least something good came out of it. At least he would have Kensuke and Touji to keep his mind occupied._

_That still didn't soften the blow of the German redhead's harsh words, however. Sighing in defeat, he laid back down on his bed and placed the earphones back in his ears, and pressed the 'Play' button of his S-DAT cassette player. Often finding bliss in listening to the harmonic sounds that the little device played, he was unable to focus completely on the source he found the most pleasure in as the last words of the redhead echoed throughout his head._

**

* * *

Present time...**

Shinji placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on the palms of his hands. He watched the form of his flatmate as she walked past him in blissful ignorance. The Second Child was wearing a gree dress similar to the yellow sundress she was wearing when on the frigate ship 'Over The Rainbow', with spaghetti straps. The garment went as far down as her knees. To finish the attire off, she was wearing a red pair of shoes. She approached the person chosen for her date, who she greeted with a hug and small peck on the cheek, making sure that the Third Child was in a good position to see what had conspired between the two. Noticing that she had caught his attention, she looked over her shoulder and grinned spitefully as they walked into the middle of the dancefloor. Shinji sighed in defeat, closing his eyes. _Why does Asuka always have to be so mean to me? Oh well, at least she's going to be enjoying herself tonight. I'll just be sitting here, watching as she does..._

His descent into a maelstrom of self-pity were interrupted by the light reflecting off the laminate flooring being replaced by the shadow of a feminine figure. He looked up and immediately noticed who the person was.

Hikari Horaki, the class representative.

**

* * *

**

A few moments ago...

"Hey, Hikari!" Asuka called as she made her way through the double doors of the gymnasium and into the building, waving to the class representative. "Over here!"

The brown-haired girl walked over to her red-haired friend, wearing a polite smile on her face. Although the two of them were friends - with the class rep probably being the only person Asuka knew that was closest to a real friend - Hikari had to admit that having to put up with the German girl's ego and complaints about the Third Child could be annoying and even frustrating at times. To her, Shinji did not seem to be the type of person who would so much as attempt half the things Asuka accused him of. No way; he was too shy and introverted to do any of that. But she knew that the short-tempered redhead wasn't a bad person at heart... just thoughtless at times. She also grew to respect the girl's determined attitude; once she had set her heart on something, she was determined to accomplish it - a very admirable feature a person could have by any means. It was just a shame that Asuka thought so much - if not a little too much - about herself.

"Hello, Asuka," Hikari replied. She looked around for a couple of seconds before turning back to the redhead. "Hey, where's Shinji? Didn't he come with you?"

"_Nani_! You really think I'd bring that _baka_ with me as a date!" Asuka retorted, folding her arms.

"Well..."

"Puh-lease! Do I look that desperate? Besides," the German girl grinned, "I already have a date... he's twice the man that Shinji could ever dream to be!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he ask Ayanami?"

Asuka snorted. "Hah! As if Wondergirl would even know the _meaning_ of the word 'fun'. She'd only go if the Commander ordered her to go... the little doll."

"I see..."

"Anyway, I've just seen him over there. Talk to you later!" Asuka finished in a cheery tone, with a spring in her step that was normally uncharacteristic to her. Hikari just looked on.

_Asuka, when will you ever learn what you're missing?_ She thought, shaking her head disapprovingly. Looking to her left towards the far end of the hall, she spotted Shinji sitting on one of the benches, a dejected look on his face as he saw the exchange between Asuka and her date, and the spiteful grin that followed - something which made the class representative frown; not just out of pity for the Third Child, but also out of annoyance at the Second for making such a blatant display of herself in order to get back at Shinji, one way or another. _Shinji looks so lonely..._ she mused. _I wonder if he would like to dance...? Touji's over with Kensuke and neither of them look as if they want to dance._

The brown-haired girl then approached Shinji, a friendly smile now adorning her freckled face.

* * *

**Present time...**

"Hello, Shinji," Hikari greeted, the friendly smile still adorning her face.

She was wearing a simple yet elegant sleeveless red silk Chinese evening dress with yellow slits up the side, and a matching pair of shoes that were polished so they literally sparkled in the light. Shinji noticed that the most striking change about her was her face and hair. Her face was made up; not too much, but enough to accentuate her facial features, making her normally cute features look absolutely breathtaking. Her hair was also flowing freely rather than tied into two separate pigtails like it usually was. So it came as no particular surprise that many of the male participants in the dance hall were asking her to dance with them.

_I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight  
__I've never seen you shine so bright_

The Third Child avoided eye contact with the class representative and blushed slightly. "H-Hello... Miss Horaki." _Wow, she looks... stunning..._ he thought.

_I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance  
__They're looking for a little romance  
__Given half a chance_

Hikari took a seat next to Shinji. "So, Asuka told me that neither of you came here together."

Shinji's head sunk lower. "_Hai_, you're right..."

She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Do you mind telling me what happened? Asuka told me her side of the story, but I want to hear your side too," she said, her voice with hints of concern.

The Third Child sighed and stared Hikari in the eyes, no matter how hard it was to break eye contact off. "Well, it all started last night..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Asuka was dancing slowly with her date. The boy she was with glanced over her shoulder, seemingly staring in the direction of Shinji and Hikari while maintaining the correct movement to the beat of the song.

"Hey, Asuka?" he asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" the German girl replied, looking up at him.

"Isn't that the class rep over there with Shinji?"

Asuka looked over her shoulder and, indeed, saw the brown-haired girl sitting beside the Third Child, a hand on his shoulder while they both stared each other in the eyes. She then turned sharply back to her date. "Hmph! Let's just ignore them... besides, what's she doing with that _hentai_?"

* * *

"...And that's what happened." Shinji finished.

Hikari's frown switched to a look of sorrow and pity. "I'm sorry about that, Shinji..." The class representative turned and looked at Asuka - who now had her back turned to the two - a scowl on her face. "That girl can be so inconsiderate sometimes... it gets pretty annoying."

"I'm used to it though; she's like that every day..." the Third Child replied.

"But you shouldn't let her speak to you like that! I know I wouldn't."

"I thought you were her friend?"

"Yes, but you're my friend too. She shouldn't be treating you like that!"

Shinji looked at the girl next to him, a look of surprise on his face. "I... I'm your friend?"

A small, gentle smile tugged on the corners of Hikari's mouth. "Of course you are."

"I... _arigato_." Shinji replied, a healthy blush on his cheeks. "Nobody's said that to me before."

The class representative's smile widened. "Well, they just have." She then thought of an idea. "Hey, Shinji?"

"_Hai_?"

"Do you want to dance?"

The Third Child's eyes widened. "D-Dance? With m-me?" He stammered.

"Why not?" Hikari replied, brushing her hair back save one or two strands on the side of her face. "None of us have anybody to dance with. Well, I did get a few asking me if they wanted to dance, but I turned them down."

_And I've never seen that dress you're wearing  
__Or the highlights in your hair  
__That catch your eyes  
__I have been blind_

"W-Why?"

"Because I didn't particularly like them. And Touji doesn't really look like he wants to dance, since he's still hanging around with Kensuke."

"A-Are you sure you want me to d-dance with you?"

"Of course." Hikari replied, giggling. "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't."

"But I-I don't really know how to dance..."

Hikari's giggles got louder. "Silly.. I'll teach you."

Shinji blushed and stayed silent for a few moments. "...O-Okay."

"Great! Well, let's go then." Hikari then stood up and took Shinji's hand, walking to the dancefloor with the Third Child literally trying to catch up. Once they reached an empty space in the dancefloor, the brown-haired girl stopped and turned around, looking at Shinji with an endearing smile on her face.

"Shall we start?"

"H-_Hai_."

The brown-haired girl then held Shinji's left hand with her right, while wrapping her left arm around Shinji's waist so her hand was on his back. She started to move in rhythm to the song which had just come on, with Shinji moving in synchronisation with her. "You hold me like I'm holding you; your left hand on my right hand and your right arm around my waist with your hand on my back."

"Shinji-_kun_, you see the way my feet are moving?" Hikari asked.

"I do," The Third Child replied, looking down at his companion's feet.

"Well, you have to move yours the same way. But you have to look at the person you're dancing with; you can't keep watching their feet."

"_Hai_," he replied again, looking slowly up at Hikari's face. His felt his heart rate increase upon eye contact as well as the blood suddenly rushing up to his cheeks.

_The lady in red is dancing with me  
__Cheek to cheek  
__There's nobody here  
__It's just you and me  
__It's where I wanna be  
__But I hardly know this beauty by my side  
__I'll never forget the way you look tonight_

Unknown to them, Asuka was looking over the shoulder of her date at them, her face contorting into a glare that would have shattered diamond. _Look at the two of them..._ she thought bitterly. _It makes me sick... they're probably doing that just to try and make me jealous! Like I'll ever be jealous of that little wimp..._

"Asuka?" her date spoke. "Are you okay?"

"Oh! Yeah... I'm f-fine."

"If you say so..."

_

* * *

_

_I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight  
__I've never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing  
__I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side  
__And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away  
__And I have never had such a feeling  
__Such a feeling of complete and utter love  
__As I do tonight_

During another one of the songs that was being played, Shinji noticed Asuka looking at the two, making him tense up slightly. Hikari noticed this.

"Shinji?" she asked, a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Asuka..." the Third Child replied, the slightest hints of fear in his eyes.

"What about her?"

"She's staring at us..."

Hikari looked over her shoulder and did, indeed, notice the German girl looking at the two, her eyes narrowed into little, ominous slits. She then turned back to Shinji.

"Don't worry about her, Shinji-_kun_," she reassured. "You have as much a right to enjoy yourself as she does."

"I suppose..."

_The lady in red is dancing with me  
__Cheek to cheek  
__There's nobody here  
__It's just you and me  
__It's where I wanna be  
__But I hardly know this beauty by my side  
__I'll never forget the way you look tonight_

* * *

Two hours later...

The dance had finished at around midnight, but it took Shinji and Hikari ten minutes to leave, due to the large number of crowds trying to exit through the double doors. By the time the two friends got out, they were more or less the only ones in the school grounds. Shinji yawned.

"I really enjoyed that dance, Shinji-_kun_." Hikari said, smiling sweetly.

"I did too," the Third Child replied in kind, a slight hue of crimson highlighting his otherwise pale cheeks. "_Arigato_."

"What for?"

"For spending time with me tonight, and also for teaching me how to dance."

A slight blush formed on Hikari's cheeks. "You're welcome."

The next ten minutes were spent basically enjoying one another's company, finding that their comfort levels around each other were beginning to rise. Once they reached Hikari's house, the brown-haired girl stopped at the front door just as she was about to open it. She turned around and walked down the small steps that led up to the door and walked back over to Shinji, staring him in the eyes.

"W-What's wrong?" Shinji asked.

Hikari's cheeks also turned a slight shade of red as she leaned in towards Shinji's ear and started whispering. "I just want to say thank you for spending time with me tonight. I appreciate it."

"Oh... i-it's my pleasure," Shinji stammered.

"I just want you to know that spending time with you tonight has... made me like you even more. At first, we weren't particularly that close to one another, basically just exchanging formalities. But now... I feel like I know you much better as a person. Just thought I'd let you know that." She spoke.

_I never will forget the way you look tonight_

The class representative then took Shinji by surprise. As she pulled away from his ear, she flashed him another sweet smile before giving him a small kiss on the lips and leaned in to give him a hug. If it was ever humanly possible for a person to blush so brightly that they would be mistaken for a traffic light, Shinji would have been the first person to have ever done so. "H-H-Hikari?" he questioned.

_The lady in red_

"Think of it as an extra way of saying 'thank you'," she replied, winking. She broke off the hug and walked back to the front door. "I'll see you in school tomorrow, Shinji-_kun_!"

"O-Okay, Hikari."

Hikari flashed a final smile at Shinji before walking through the front door and closing it behind her. Shinji stood there for a few moments, his fingers touching his lips where she had kissed. The blush was beginning to fade away, a faint smile forming on his lips as he recalled the time they spent with each other. Especially the kiss.

_My lady in red_

_Hikari..._ Shinji thought, making his way back to Misato's apartment. _I hope we can spend more time together..._

_I love you._

* * *

**:_ END _:**

* * *

**: AUTHOR'S NOTES :**

...Don't ask. I got bored. Plus, I had to ward off writer's block one way or another. The end result was this - another WAFFy piece from me (_ducks and covers from wrath of fellow authors_), although I'm not actually sure if this would actually be counted as a 'Romance' fic.

Yes, I like Chris De Burgh's songs. How did you ever guess? ;)

All feedback - from praise to constructive criticism, from flames to death threats - is welcome. Just look at my profile for my address.


End file.
